Pharmaceutical products with antihypertensive and anti-anginal properties are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,808 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,740. An especially important compound among those disclosed is 4-[2-(di-n-propylamino)ethyl]-1,3-dihydro-2H-indolin-2-one hydlochlorid (ropinirole). This compound has also been found to be a potent CNS active non-ergot dopamine receptor agonist (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,860 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,126). The hydrochloride salt of ropinirole is approved for human use in therapy to treat Parkinson's disease.
Processes for the production of ropinirole hydrochloride are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,954 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,336,781.
Bromocriptine, another anti-Parkinson's drug, has been proposed for use in controlling tobacco use (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,204). Bromocriptine, however is an ergot alkaloid and has a number of well known side effects.